Micromax to invest Rs 2,000 crore for expansion

Already present in SAARC countries and Russia, it is looking at CIS countries, Africa and Iran for expansion.HYDERABAD: India's leading handset manufacturer Micromax, which opened its new manufacturing facility here on Thursday, plans to invest Rs.2,000 crore for expansion over the next five-six years.

Rajesh Agarwal, co-founder, Micromax, told reporters that the company will expand its operatios to two to three countries this year.

Already present in SAARC countries and Russia, it is looking at CIS countries, Africa and Iran for expansion.

Micromax targets 25 percent growth during 2016-17 to achieve revenues of Rs.15,000 crore. The revenue in 2015-16 was Rs.12,000 crore.

Currently selling 2.5 million units per month, Micromax has 14 percent market share. The market size is 220 million units a year.

"We expect our share to go up to 20 percent in 2016-17," Rajesh said. The market size is expected to grow at 10 percent.

The international operations contribute 8 percent to the company's revenues.

On the funding for expansion, Rajesh said they were looking at various options including IPO.

The Hyderabad facility, inaugurated by Telangana's IT minister K.T. Rama Rao, will have the capacity to manufacture one million mobile phones per month.

The unit, which opened at Fab City here, currently employs 700 people and will increase the number to 1,000 in next two months.

Spread over 19 acres, this is the second manufacturing plant of Bhagati Products Ltd in India, the manufacturing arm of Micromax.

The company made an initial investment of Rs.100 crore in the unit which also has provision for expansion to manufacture LED TV, LED lights and other electronic equipment in the future.

The Hyderabad plant along with the facility in Uttarakhand will take the overall production to 1.2 million handsets per month.

The company is manufacturing rest of the handsets in China.

The third facility coming up in Rajasthan and expected to be operational in six months will have a capacity of one million units in first phase.

Stating that the company plans to have its presence across the chain of consumer electronics, Rajesh said they will focus on backward integration and research and development.

Announcing that the company plans to shift its R&D centre from Beijing to Hyderabad, he urged Telangana government to allot land for the same.